Plant flat-collapsible-containers made of thin thermally sealable film are well-known. These containers, when empty and laid on a horizontal surface, lie flat. The containers generally have a trapezoidal shape. The containers when opened provide a cavity which is used to house plants. The containers when housing plants take on a three-dimensional frustoconical shape. As used herein, the term "plant" or "plants" is used in its broadest sense and includes anything falling within the plant kingdom, including flowers, cut flowers and potted plants.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,695, Gilbert, discloses an example of a plant flat-collapsible-container. The container is made of two thin film panels. The panels are heat sealed together, one on top of the other, along the container's equally angulated sides. The container, when empty, lies flat and has a trapezoidal shape. The panels are also heat sealed along the bottom end of the container. The top edges of each panel are freely separable to form the mouth of the container. The container thus forms a plant bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,234, de Klerk, shows another plant flat-collapsible-container. The container is also made from two thin film panels. The sides of each panel are also heat sealed along the container's equally angulated sides. The bottom edges of each panel are not necessarily sealed. Thus cut-flower stems can exit from the bottom of the container. A container with an unsealed bottom is known as a flower sleeve.
In de Klerk, one of the container panels has a top edge which protrudes beyond the top edge of the other container panel. The protruding part of the one container panel is perforated to create a tear line. When the containers are packed for dispensing, they are clamped together along the protruding part of the one container panel. The containers are then dispensed by tearing them from the plurality of containers, one by one, along the tear line.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,267, Witte, also describes a plant flat-collapsible container. The container also has a trapezoidal shape. The container is also made of two thin film panels which are also heat sealed one on top of the other. The panels are heat sealed only along the container's equally angulated sides. One of the container panels has a protruding top edge which can be folded over and adhesively sealed to the other container panel. Thus a user, after filling the container, can close the container by folding the protruding top edge of the one panel over the other panel.
Gilbert further discloses an example of how to make plant flat-collapsible-containers. The containers are made by intermittently advancing, in timed sequence, two webs. The webs are disposed one on top of the other. The webs are formed into containers in a single heat sealing station or multiple stations. In the heat sealing station a hot wire is applied to the two webs to form the side seams and bottom seams of the container. The two webs can be obtained from separate sheets of material or from a single sheet of double-folded material. The containers may be stamped or marked with promotional advertising during manufacture. The patent discloses the following machines as acceptable to perform the method: the Guard 200HS, available from Guard & Associates, Denver Colo.; and the Lemo 850K or 850KS, available from Lemo H. Lehmacher & Son, GmbH, Neiderkassel-Mondorf, Germany.
Producers, prior to shipping potted plants in plant flat-collapsible-containers, wrap the pot holding the plant in a decorative pot cover. The pot with the decorative cover is then dropped in the plant flat-collapsible-container. The container can be a flower bag or flower sleeve. The sleeve or bag protects the foliage of the potted plant and facilitates movement of the potted plant.
Shipping potted plants with decorative covers in sleeves or bags has problems. First, later removal of a portion of the sleeve or bag to expose the foliage may damage the foliage. Further, the sleeve or bag interferes with the visualization of the decorative pot cover. Additionally, using the pot cover in connection with a sleeve requires a lot of labor. The pot must be wrapped in the cover and then disposed in the sleeve.
To help resolve some of the problems associated with the use of pot covers and protective flower bags, industry has developed bags which have a decorative lower portion. The bags also have perforations to separate the top portion of the bag from the decorative lower portion. The lower portion of the bag, when separated from the top portion, doubles as a decorative pot cover. To make flower bags with decorative lower portions, industry has employed metalization techniques. These techniques give the lower portion of the bag a silver mirrored appearance. Industry has also used cheaper printing techniques to decorate the lower portion of the bag.
Using a bag with a decorative lower portion to double as a pot cover has drawbacks. First, many materials which have desirable decorative qualities lack the qualities needed in a protective bag. Conversely, many materials which have desirable protective qualities, such as low-density polyethylene, even with printing, are considered by the trade to have low aesthetic quality.
Industry has used sleeves made of two different materials. The materials are joined along the sleeve's minor axis. The materials separate along the sleeve's minor axis by way of perforations. Both materials used to form the sleeve have to have qualities to satisfy protective bag requirements.